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Without question God is here. He created all this and much more. There is not a person alive nor one that ever lived that can make any other true statement about God other than he exists.

All we have to rely on is our concepts and theology. All data we have comes from another man who himself is as ignorant as any other person on the real aspects of the Almighty.

We will learn aspects of the Almighty when we enter His kingdom in the life here after. It would not suprise me to find we are but one species of life elsewhere in this universe, or also that we are in but one of many other universes and dimensions.

It was very aptly said many years ago "Who is man that God is mindful of him?"

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Here is Mechanicsville, Fresno, the moon, anwyere you can imagine. There are those who say there is no God, but then where did all this come from? What created it? All this stuff, the universe and all that resides there in, has to come from some thing or some one. That thing and one is God.

Where ever you are, God is there, and the word 'here' is in the word 'there'.

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The moon? What's he doing up there? Maybe setting up a hospitality suite for the "real" NASA flights. (We all KNOW the ones we saw on TV were faked in Arizona or Utah or somplace.) I guess it (the moon not utah) would be a quiet place to sit and contemplate ones navel if one had a navel. Ya think God has ...? Oh nevermind.
b.l.
BTW, as to your question about what created God...oh wait that was "all this". All what? Arn't we really just the dream creation of the Giant Sleeping Flea who could awaken at any moment by the scratching of the Giant Itchy Dog? Dog?!! Hey!, that's goD spelled backwards. Might be on to something here (there and everywhere).

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There is the insomniac dyslexic athiest who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.

But you ask about the moon and what is God doing up there? Well, God is everywhere. There is no up or down for Him, The Moon is 'up' to us from our view point but for God it is just one of several google to the google + power of places and he keeps full track of each and evey one of then as well as all live there on, if any.

You can poke fun of God, but He has YOU right where he wants you and you can't get out! Remember, some day you will die, and that is when you are schedulled to meet Him face to face. and there will be plenty of time for you as well as all the others where in His environment time does not function as it does here.

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Your statement infers that there are in fact other gods. There are none. THere are those who beleive in that but I don't. There is but one God.

There are many other religions. They all are just as viable as what I beleive in. THere are no specific directions as to how to worship or how to beleive except you must beleive fully from your mind and heart. What religion is that? There are religions that explain in detail what to beleive and what not to. None are correct and none are wrong.

The whole thing boils down to the individual, not the faith they follow. Is what is within you as a person. And that is what you need to deal with, not the faith you may follow.

The Jews were the chosen people, but Judiasm is not the chosen religion! The Jews were chosen where they subscribed to and beleived in one God and one only. The Egyptians had many gods and they worshiped many including each other. That most likely is why the Jews were chosen. It was the only one God fearing people on the planet at the time. Now there are many. I expect any God fearing person is also a chosen person.

I simply do not follow other faiths. I follow what is in my heart and what is what I find to be most real. The bible is a great book, but is full of contradictions, killings, and many books were written by the same person but givne authorship to others. The translations from original writings to the language of today is questionable in many key points so the true intent of meaning is not what we today see.

FOr instance, Noah was in the flood for 40 days, 40 nights. Moses wandered in the desert for 40 years. Paul wandered in the desert for 40 years. What of ALi Baba and his 40 thieves? Hmmmmmmmmmmm. That number 40 is a crude mis translation from the word MANY. Just one point of 40 that are incorrect in the bible from translation errors. After all, that entire book was written by man, and man is submect to error. He makes mistakes you know.

And so on we go. Our objective on this planet, our one way ticket is to learn. What we learn here is the foundation for the new beginning to happen when we die.

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Originally posted by Rabid_Clam:
FOr instance, Noah was in the flood for 40 days, 40 nights. Moses wandered in the desert for 40 years. Paul wandered in the desert for 40 years. What of ALi Baba and his 40 thieves? Hmmmmmmmmmmm. That number 40 is a crude mis translation from the word MANY. Just one point of 40 that are incorrect in the bible from translation errors. After all, that entire book was written by man, and man is submect to error. He makes mistakes you know.

Summary of Biblical Accounts of the Great Flood:

40 days, length of flood (v7:17)
47 days, dove discovers land (v8:10-11)
150 days, waters were abated (v8:3)
150 days, ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat (v8:4)
253 days, to see tops of mountains (v8:5)
314 days, waters dried up (v8:13)
370 days, earth dried (v8:14)
After reexamining the account in Genesis, we are left with even more confusion and contradictions than when we began.

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Originally posted by Rabid_Clam:
Without question God is here. He created all this and much more. There is not a person alive nor one that ever lived that can make any other true statement about God other than he exists.

If that were true there would be no atheists. There are lots of questions about the existence of a diety.

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The Egyptians had many gods and they worshiped many including each other. That most likely is why the Jews were chosen. It was the only one God fearing people on the planet at the time. Now there are many. I expect any God fearing person is also a chosen person.

This brings back memories. I used to live in St. Louis and go over to Alton and bird watch along the locks. But I'm off the topic.

There is a wonderful book by Karen Armstrong entitled, "A History of God" which is an intellectually challenging book according to one of it's reviewers. I would recommend it to anyone who wants an understanding of how the concept of God has been shaped and altered through the ages.

However, to attempt to answer the question "But how do you explain other gods, other religions, and different beleifs from what you profess?" In "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" John Paul II wrote, "Men turn to various religions to solve mysteries of the human condition, which today, as in earlier times, burden people's hearts: the nature of man; the meaning and purpose of life; good and evil; the origin and purpose of suffering; the way to true happiness; death; judgment... and finally, the ultimate ineffable mystery which is the origin and destiny of our existence."

So, where does that leave us? One size, obviously, does not fit all. We are all individuals and our lives have been fashioned through an assortment of experiences. So, we will seek out a belief system that conforms to our experiences, that comforts and nourishes our spiritual self and provides a compass for our current and future behavior.

There is a wonderful line in the Kevin Costner Robin Hood film with Morgan Freeman who plays his arabic companion. A child asks him why he is different (can't remember the exact question). But, he replies, "Allah delights in diversity". I don't think it is as important what we believe so much as we have a "belief". When Jesus was at the well with the Samaritan woman he remarked that the true worshipers of God were those who worship him in Spirit and truth. What is "Spirit and truth"? Some, seem to know what it is for them and express it. Others, may have a different view and may not express it as loudly. I believe that all are valid. This then brings me back to Rabid Clam's comment: "The whole thing boils down to the individual, not the faith they follow. I(t)'s what is within you as a person. And that is what you ned to deal with,"

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In fact, we are here to learn. We came from nothing but the elements of this planet we are on that have been formed by life living thereon.

Some how by the miricle of reproduction a new and seperate life begins from woman and man. This new live, as how we all began, is free to be like the animals or to learn. There is but one thing that seperates us from the animals and that is our ability and choosing to beleive in God.

Those who do not beleive will expire as the animals do. The rest will live the next life in the Kingdon of God for all eternity in a new land.

This new land is not in the universe we know or the void around it. It is not even in the same dimension! We don' have the answers on this, but they will be explained in the next life. We are not to complicate our existance with notions of the next other than we need to fully and honestly beleive in Him and be kind to each other. We have rules to follow, they are very simple but we need to self enforce them to our own behavior and not judge others where we are so far from perfect ourselves. Take care of each other, do not cause another to flounder, but also you need to protect your own self and that is not limited to the taking of another life. That is not murder but to do so for want and greed IS.

Again, we have so few clues but our job here in this life is to learn and culture ourselves into a kind and generous person.

Ask of your self "Am I a kind and generous person? And do I truly and honestly beleive in the power and existence of God Almighty?"

You may be asked this again when there is but only one other in your presence and only that one for an eternity or more.

"But the basic fact is that, yes, we are deeply
disposed to broadcast our own subjectivity onto the world. The biblical God is jealous, angry--deplorably neurotic, in fact. And the Greek gods were like teenagers left alone in their parents' house for the weekend. The fact that we may be predisposed to conceive of the universe in anthropomorphic
terms does not mean that we are condemned to do so, however."

From a CNBC interview 'The Mortal Dangers of Religious Faith' with Sam Harris author of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason.